A Tale Twice Told
by Bitter Lilly
Summary: A EM story. Meg and Mem. Giry leave to work at another Opera house in France, but are followed by none other then the Phantom himself seeking a new life away from the opera popular. No sooner do they arrive then history beguines to repeat itself.
1. Prolog

Meg had heard him, but it was years ago. She thought on that voice as she walked towards the shore. The shore of his lair, he had always been a comforting voice to her, not the menace everyone spoke of. After she and mama had moved into the opera house, he had first come to her. She could remember that time like yesterday, it was right after father had died. Mama told her to be brave, she tried, she really did, but what mama didn't know was that sometimes, at night, she would go down to the small chapel under the opera and light a candle and just cry until no more tears would come. That was when she heard him; he came to her, there, in her weakest moments. He comforted her, but she never saw him. Then Christine came. Meg saw a part of herself in the young girl and showed her the chapel. The first few weeks Christine did little more than go down to the chapel. Meg found herself longing to go light a candle for her own father. She prayed that her father forgave her for not coming and God for her impatiens. One day she went down, but when she heard Christine she started to head back up. Except, she heard it. Someone else was in there with Christine. The voice sounded oddly familiar. Then it struck her, it was his voice! Meg was heart-broken. Over the next few years, she often heard of someone Christine would call her Angel of Music and another who the opera hands called The Phantom of the Opera. She was smart enough to realize that they where one in the same. The person who had comforted her through her hard times was now dropping backgrounds on bad singers. Also the one who had broken her small heart, still she would never betray him, no mater how disappointed she was.

But that had all changed. He wasn't the same person, or had he been trying to win her over, only to find it easier to convince Christine. It really didn't mater. After mama told her to not follow she tried to keep the rest of the mob form following, to no avail. She followed them down, but soon found she had been so lost in thought that she had taken a wrong turn and was now ahead of them. Another turn and she was knee deep in water, but on the other side was a shore with what looked to be a living quarters on it. When she had stepped up onto the shore she ran to a back room. There sitting o a night stand, as a white half mask. Picking it up in her thin hand, she felt tears in her eyes. Quickly she blinked them away. Turning towards the mob, she couldn't find the words to stop them. She looked at the mask in her hands and whispered a small apology. Then she saw there was something else on the night stand, a small box. She wondered why she hadn't seen it before. It was a good sized box, with a monkey seated on the top. Maybe she couldn't stop them from doing anything else, but they would not get their hands on these. She would hide these, and then bring them back later.

When she returned to the surface, she saw her mother talking to a middle-aged man. Meg hung back, not wishing to disturb her mother. When the man had walked away, Meg hurried over to her. After a scolding form her mama, Meg inquired as to who the man was.

"Meg" she said with a sigh, "as you can see, we won't be living here anymore. That man offered me a job at another opera house, and I accepted. We will be leaving in one week."

But neither of them knew that someone was listening.


	2. New Chances

Ch 1- New Chances

Today was the day. Today they were moving. Meg watched as the movers loaded the things into the carriage. She had not yet seed the driver, perhaps he was talking with mama. Finally the men were done. She turned to say good bye to her ballet friends. After many tears, Meg got into the carriage with her mother. It was a nice day so they road in the carriage with no top. Meg looked up at the driver and was surprised to see he was wearing a cape and a black one at that. Not much conversation passed as they road through the countryside. Now Meg realized for the first time how very few times she had been away form the Opera Popular. 'What will it be like,' she wondered 'in such a new and different place.' She hoped the girls would accept her.

About midday the carriages stopped by a small stream to water the horses and eat lunch.

"Don't stray too far Meg," she heard her mother call.

"I won't mama," Meg called back. A little while down she realized that the stream broadening into a river. Only when she came to a bridge did she realize the beautiful flowers on the other bank. 'Mama would love some fresh flowers for the new house' she thought. The bridge seamed safe enough, it was an old rope bridge but seamed sturdy. Still she went cautiously, testing each step first. When she got to the middle she heard something behind her. Slowly turning around, she saw it was a man dressed similar to the coach driver but somehow different. At that moment the bridge gave a great moan and both of them realized, if this bridge had been made fore two, it had been a long time since it held that many. With another groan, the first rope snapped. Meg was frozen stiff. She had to move, get off this bridge. She didn't realize the man was quickly walking towards her. A second rope snapped, she felt the boards under her loosen. In the next few moments, everything happened so fast! The bridge broke, she began to fall into the water, the man grabbed hold of her arm, and then she blacked out.

His hand wrapped around her arm just above the waist. Seeing the fear in her eyes, he tightened his grip, pulling her towards the bridge. He had to be quick, she was half in the water, the dress wasn't helping any either. He gave a great tug and had her in his arms. That's when she fainted. With difficulty he got the girl to shore before the bridge collapsed completely. She wasn't hard to carry, barely weighed anything the foolish girl. Others had fainted in his arms; he was no stranger to carrying dead weight. Placing her on the ground, he got his first good look at her face. He didn't' believe it, Meg, Madam Giry's daughter. Here he was trying to get away form them for a while and she had to almost get herself drowned. Letting his cape fall from covering his face, he allowed the white half mask to be exposed. He dare not stay too long, what would she do if she woke to see the Phantom standing over her, especially after what he almost did to Christine. He heard voices, and she was beginning to wake! Hurriedly he wrapped the cloak around himself, and left her on the bank.

Meg groaned. She opened her eyes just in time to see a black cape fly past her. She sat up enough to see her mother coming toward her. He closed her eyes and groaned again as she lay back down. Madam Giry ran to her daughter's side and knelt down next to her. "Meg! Where have you been child? You said you wouldn't go far," she said as she cradled her daughter in her arms. "Meg!" she exclaimed, "your sopping wet and shivering, come, we must get you warm and dry before you catch a cold."

One of the men who had come with the distraught woman spoke up, "shall I carry her Madam?"

"Yes, please do." Meg felt strong arms pick her up. Her first thought was that he came back, but when she opened her eyes, so very slightly, she saw no black, only a white canvas shirt. _You should have known better. _

"Look," the man said suddenly, "the bridge, it must have broken when she was standing in the middle. Surprising though, I wouldn't have thought that she would be able to fight the current."

'_True,'_ thought Madam Giry, _'Meg shouldn't have been able to swim to sure, especially not in a dress like that.'_

A few minutes later, Meg wake in a small makeshift tent. Mama was standing nearby watching over her daughter. "Mama," Meg spoke softly, "what happened?"

"Hush child, I will tell you later. For now you need to rest," Madam replied comfortingly to her daughter as she stroked the dancer's blond hair. Meg quietly slipped off to sleep, oblivious to the young man sitting next to her bed. Or the other one outside the tent listening carefully, concealed under his black cloak.

Eric had watched from a distance as Meg's mother and the man picked her up and brought her to the camp. Madam Giry was beside herself with worry over her daughter, as he followed them to a small tent where the boy set her down. Who did he think he was anyway? Eric had heard the boy ask the good Madam if he could carry the girl knowing full well that he would have to take the heavy dress off to do so. He should have asked her to wait as he went for help and a stretcher, not just strip off the dress and carry her himself. Had he been the one there when Madam was left alone by her husband? Had he watched little Meg from the rafters as she grew into a beautiful young dancer? No, and he had no right now to see her in that state, nor the right to shove the sodden dress off on Madam Giry. Eric could see in the boy's eyes that he wasn't going to leave Meg alone after this either. He decided then and there that continue to watch over this little family. Thinking back to his earlier plans, it really wasn't that different. He intended to follow Madam Giry and her daughter and make sure that they were going to a place where they would be safe, then leave them at peace at last. Now, though it looked like he would have to be their guardian angel again.

Eric allowed himself a hollow laugh at the thought. 'Angel,' he mused, 'who could think of me as an angel?' Christine had, but that was all over now. She had left him for that brat of a patron. She had left knowing the truth about him, and she wasn't going to come back. He had hoped to send the Giry's off at their new home and return to the ransacked Opera Popular, and never show his face, masked or otherwise, to anyone else as he lived out the rest of his days. Really his thoughts had been quite morbid as he planed out his slow withering alone in the darkness as he had lived. Now though, fate seemed to have something else in store for him. He wondered if this could be a chance to start over, to prove to himself and the good Madam who had helped him all these years that he wasn't a horrid monster.

'But is it possible,' he wondered, 'can I change that much?' he looked back over at Meg lying there so peacefully just like when she was small. Yes, he could change if it was to protect this real angel. He just wasn't sure when he saw the boy standing watch over her. She could be Eric's angel or she could be the one to bring out the demon in him. Still he knew he had to try.

He sat there watching over Meg all night, musing over his dilemma. Early the next morning he saw the insolent boy coming toward the tent.

"Madam Giry says that we will be leaving soon and you should ready the carriage.

"And what do you plan on doing while I get the carriage ready, stable boy?"

"I have been told to watch over Meg," he replied and Eric couldn't help but notice that his chest seemed to puff out a bit when he said it. He had to resist the urge to poke him, and then to hit him.

"Don't you mean Mademoiselle Giry?" Eric growled in reply gritting his teeth that the boy's casual use of her first name.

The boy ignored his comment and continued to speak. "We should be leaving in about an hour."

Eric stood perfectly still as the boy walked past him into the tent were Meg was still sleeping soundly. How could Madam Giry allow that cocky, impudent, disrespectful adolescent to look after Meg? His dear Meg, Eric knew that he would do a much better job taking care of the girl. Then he remembered, the dance instructor didn't know that he was there. It was probably best that way, he went off to get the horses hitched to the carriage. The sooner they got to the Opera, the sooner he could get that boy away from Meg.

"Don't worry, your mother told me to watch over you," he spoke reassuringly, avoiding he eyes. "My name is Renardo; I won't let anything happen to you Meg." He helped her to the carriage, then left her saying that he needed to check that everything was ready in a very business like tone and then that he would be back soon. Meg watched him go, happy to get a few seconds of peace at least. She was pretty sure he meant well, but Renardo was a bit stuck up and she wasn't as stupid as some of the girls he must have been used to.

Within the next five minutes they were off. Renardo stayed close to her all day, pointing out land marks and towns. Meg couldn't help but notice that he seemed mildly nervous, yet sat quite near to her. Mama was riding in the other carriage, neither she nor the black driver, as she called him, spoke. Meg's mind began to wander as she thought about their strange driver. Did he ever talk? But her mind was also on the boy who sat next to her. He was the first boy to really get close to her, most men were too afraid of her mother. That had been the case with the leach of a stage hand Joseph Boket, even the managers Fairmin and Andre had left her alone. Christen was also protected, being Madam Giry's adopted daughter, but why did her mother allow the Phantom to take her? She found her thoughts drifting back to the Phantom again. What would he do now that his home was destroyed? Where would he live? She looked again to the black clad driver, she wasn't' sure why, but he reminded her of the Phantom. So dark and mysterious, why didn't' he speak?

"here we are," she heard Renardo say. Looking over from the driver she saw a large building with many giant statures. So this was to be her new home. She and Renardo followed Madam Giry inside where they met Misure Lacrots, the manager. He showed them a small flat on the second floor of the opera. It wasn't much just a kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living room. She thanked Renardo and went to her room to unpack. Little did the little Giry know that someone was watching her. When she was finished, she decided to explore the rest of the opera. The manager had given them a tour earlier but she wanted to see more. So, leaving the small flat she headed out. Meg hadn't gotten far before she ran into Renardo. 'strange' she thought 'I could have sworn he was leaving.' He saw her and came over.

"why are you still here? I thought you were returning to Paris. "she said as politely as she could manage.

"Well," he replied, "there is nothing for me back there so Mr. Lacrots is letting me stay as stage hand.


	3. It beguins again

My apologies for taking so long. This one is fairly long though so have fun. Not sure when the next one will be up.

Chapter 2- It begins again

"What!?" Eric had been standing not too very far from the pair when the insolent boy told Meg that he would be staying. No, he would not allow this. He watches as Meg turned to leave, but Renardo followed her. This boy did not understand how to take a hint. Eric had watched as the boy tried to impress Meg with his knowledge about France as they drove. Meg had not been listening but he kept rattling on and on. Then she tried to get away from him as fast as she could. Wandering around the opera, they got a tour of the place she and Maman would be staying now. Then he followed her as she retraced her steps. Then that's accursed brat had to show up again and tell her that he would be staying. Eric missed the look of fear and anger in Meg's eyes, too busy mentally cursing the boy to hell, but he did hear her reply.

"That is very generous of him. Where will you be staying?"

Eric did not miss the forced politeness in her voice. Any man should know that she was merely humoring him and had no desire to be in his company, and any man, any respectable man, would answer her question and make a hasty farewell. Not this boy though, oh no, he was going to go as far as he could.

"With the wranglers in the dormitories M. Lacrots says that since I have some experience with horses and have nothing back home I can work with their trainers and in the stables. I've always had a way with animals," he added smugly.

"They flock to their own kind," Eric mumbled to himself growing more and more annoyed with the boy as time went.

"That's very nice Renardo, but if you don't mind, I really need to be going." Meg turned to leave as Eric watched Renardo's hand fly out to grab hers. The Phantom almost jumped from his hiding place and slapped the boy. Was he so dense that he couldn't see that Meg didn't want him around? He watched as Meg turned to face him.

"I… I was hoping to show you around."

"That's very kind Misure, but perhaps another time, I really must be going." She turned again to leave and reached to grab her again but Eric pushed a heavy rope off the ledge next to him and it thudded o the floor just missing the fool of a boy. Eric cursed under his breath as the boy only jumped away and was not hit by it. He was already damned to hell, what was one more word or one more death. He watched as Meg, who was used to things of this matter, continued away unfazed. Renardo walked in the other direction back to the dorms sulking. He was turning out to be more trouble then Eric wanted to deal with.

Back in her room Meg sat on the bed and thought about Renardo. He was so persistent and annoying. Just like that stupid Raoul, she had watched from the sidelines as her best friend's love bloomed. "More like exploded," she mumbled to herself. Christine had known Raoul as a child but she hadn't even stopped to find if that boy was in the man before she had gone running to him. But then again, Meg wondered if she would do the same in Christine's place. The little blond shook her golden hair to clear her head of the notion. She had only had girls for friends growing up so there would be no man to come back to her. Her thoughts strayed for a second to the Phantom but she quickly dismissed it since she had only ever glimpsed him outside her dreams. Christine had always been impulsive. The second an idea formed in her head she went after it. The same with love, any boy who came to her with pretty words or a dashing smile she let her heart run away with her. More than once Meg had sat with the heartbroken brunet offering a sympathetic shoulder, secretly envious of her luck and wanting to say I told you so all at the same time. She had always wanted one of the striking young men to look her way, but with her mother there were never any advances towards her. How she had reveled in those nights when the Phantom would speak to her in secret. While she danced she could feel him watching her and beamed with pride. It had ended too soon though, Christine had come and he had eyes only for her.

Meg thought back to the days before Christine had come to the Opera. She had very few memories of her father. He had died when she was only a three. Her maman had been a dancer at the Opera before she had met Misure Giry, her father. Mem Giry had been the most beautiful dancer of all and had captured his attention from the first act. He had come back every night to see her and made it his business to find out who she was. Shortly after his first meeting with her the two fell in love and were married and Antoinette left the Opera to be a mother. At least that's what her mother had told her. Meg had heard whispers that there was a scandal with her mother's marriage, also that the Phantom had become very nasty around the same time. Antoinette had only been 18 at the time, and Charles Giry was 20. When her mother left the Opera to live with Giry and had Meg things could not have been happier. The whole family was happy and a more beautiful baby was not found in all of Paris. Both mother and child were healthy and father was doing well in business. Then when Meg was two, tragedy struck. Her father collapsed at work and could not get up. A fever came upon him not a week later and he was bed ridden. Meg prayed and begged to God day after day for her father to get better and go play with her, her only birthday wish was for her father to come out and celebrate with her. God heard her prayer and on her third birthday, as she was eating breakfast, she and her mother heard footsteps on the stairs and her father walked into the room. Though he was very pale and sickly looking, he was dressed in his finest and standing on his feet with no support. Little Meg jumped from her seat and ran to her father with her mother close on her heals. As the family embraced Meg thanked God for granting her wish and promised to never forget this birthday. The three had the most wonderful day that any of them could remember and that night went to the Opera for the first time in months. Ever since her father had become ill they had been confined to the house.

Her father remained well for a week and they did all they could together. Then her father fell ill again, worse than it had ever been. Meg stayed by his side night and day praying again for her father to get better. He would whisper to her that he had gotten better once, he would do it again. But after a month of a sever fever, Charles Giry died. Meg wept for days and would not eat for a week before her mother finally forced her to. After that she and her mother went back to the opera to live and Madam Giry took a job as a ballet teacher. Meg began lessons and danced every day for her father, but missed him terribly.

When she was five she first heard her angel speak to her. She had gone down into the chapel to light a candle and pray for her father when she heard a voice singing softly to her. Then she felt warm arms wrap around her. At first she was afraid, but the voice sang softly and comfortingly to her and her fears subsided. When she had finished crying she felt the presence leaver her and asked in a timid voice, "who are you?" It answered simply, "the angel of music," and disappeared. The next morning she ran to her mother and told her what had happened. At first Antoinette looked afraid and told Meg that she must have been dreaming and sent her off to practice. She went down to the chapel again that night and heard the voice singing to her again. She closed her eyes and spoke to it. "Maman says that I am just dreaming."

"Do you believe that?"

"No, I think that you are real. But why would she tell me otherwise?"

"Because I might be dangerous. Do you think I am dangerous little Meg?"

"No, I think you are good."

"Then to you I am good, others may not think so. Decide for yourself little angel." The voice faded away but when she opened her eyes there was a rose laying on the floor in front of her. She picked it up and decided to not tell her maman that she had heard the voice again. It would be her little secret.

Every night she would go down and listen to her angel sing to her and once or twice fell asleep in the chapel only to awaken in her bed with a rose on her pillow beside her head.

Meg lay down on her new bed with a sigh. That had been so long ago, now everything had changed. She was in a new place, far away from her phantom angel. Not only that, but he had abandoned her, he had near broken her heart. She vowed to find a new angel here, one who would protect her, and only her, someone to keep Renardo away, and to love her and maman. She would forget about the Angel of music or whoever he was. With those thoughts she changed for bed and went to sleep.

Eric had watched Meg after she walked away from the insolent brat. She seemed distressed and figured that it was because of the boy. He left her alone to prepare for bed, needing to find a place for himself to sleep. His mind was wrapped up in his own past with the Giry family. He had been merely 6 when Antoinette, at the time 17, had rescued him from the circus. To him, she was an angel from God. He had watched as the man in the audience had courted her very shortly and then as his friends stomach curiously grew. At first she had been able to conceal it with large skirts but soon it became too large. When he had first confronted her with it she had lovingly placed a hand upon it and spoken softly. "Nothing escapes you does it Eric?" It had always been curios to him why Ann, as he called her, had called him by his name. She had saved him from those who had never called him anything but bad things and it was strange being called by his name and not Monster, or Demon child. "You see Eric," she continued, "there is another life inside of me. Soon it will come into the world, just as you and I did. I will be in charge of taking care of this little person. I only pray that I will do a good job."

Shortly after there meeting Ann had come back to him and told him that she would be leaving with Charles to have the child and be his wife. Eric had watched her leave with a heavy heart and had cried himself to sleep for nights. He had listened for the next few years to the people of the Opera when they talked about Antoinette _Giry. _The child was a little girl named Meg, she was a blond haired blue eyed child sent strait from God. Or so people said. To Eric, this Meg was a little demon sent from the devil to steal his Friend from him. Both the girl and her father where of the Devil himself. Yet any time he would go into one of his rages, he would see Ann's face, so happy and almost glowing with joy, and it would make him even more upset. He wanted her to be that happy because of him, not some other man.

Eric listened as he heard of the child growing and then that the father had become ill. He took joy in the fact that things were not well for the messenger from Hell. Though there were times that he felt bad about it. He was happy that his only friend's joy was in pain. He was happy that his only friend was in pain. No, he would tell himself, he was happy that his only friend might become free. One thing bothered him. The little demon was still very well. It even had the gall to pray to God for it's father to get well. As time went he heard the larger demon's health continued to wane. Then, all at once, it was better, and for the little one's birthday too. He cursed that day and wished for death, he damned the two demons to hell a million times over. He raved in a mad rage till he passed out in his underground caverns. When he awoke he cried. Cried for his friend, cried that he was such a monster for wanting the death of her love, cried for the little girl whose father he had wished death on as well as herself. He cried for himself, for the mother who scorned and sold him, he cried for all the nights he was a captive to a cruel master in the gypsy circus. He cried and cried till he again fell asleep at the organ which he had recently taught himself to play.

When he awoke again Eric felt normal again. His cool hatred of the girl demon and her father had returned after his moment of insane pity last night. Up in the opera house the ballet rats were speaking in hushed tones about Ann. It seemed that the good day had only been the calm before the storm. Ann's husband was even worse and not expected to live out the night. Eric listened intently to the conversation in the next room. So the demon would be gone soon. That was good news for him.

Then next morning brought the sad news of death. Sad that is, to everyone except Eric. To him, this was a day for celebration, for, not only was the accursed demon dead but also his friend would be coming home. The opera had offered her a job as a ballet instructor. Soon she would be back where she belonged, and the little demon could be taken care of.

Within the week Ann was back in the opera and teaching ballet. Eric was also working, on a way to eliminate his new enemy. Little Meg often ran around the opera on her own. Her mother was sure that no harm would come to her child. Little did she know that Eric was constantly watching waiting for a chance.

His chance came late one night when everyone was sleeping. Meg had gone down to the chapel alone. Silently, Eric crept into the rafters above her head and watched. The child lit a candle and began to pray for God to watch over her father in heaven. She didn't even get half way through the prayer before her little legs shook and gave out under her and the small shoulders shook with grief and sobs. A wave of pity again swept over Eric as he watched her. He descended a rope to land softly behind her. He had never been so close to her, the child was purely angelic. Her hair lay in soft golden waves down her small back, some day her hair would probably be as long as Ann's was. "Meg," he had said softly, he no longer wished to harm her, at least, not right now. She turned to him with tears in her little bright blue eyes. His heart melted and he knew that he would protect this little angel from heaven.


End file.
